RISMedia's Real Estate Magazine

AUG 2018

Real Estate magazine is the industry's leading source for real estate news and information since 1980. Published monthly by RISMedia, Real Estate magazine offers timely and relevant real estate news to the industry's top brokers and agents.

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Page 63 of 126

RISMedia's REAL ESTATE August 2018 59
Increasing diversity of rep-
resentation in your business
will require more than meeting
quotas. Placing experienced
women in top positions is nec-
essary to have more diverse
voices at the table where ma-
jor decisions are made. How-
ever, for these professionals to
be perceived as more than just
token hires, there needs to be
a culture shift in companies
that embrace D&I.
According to Mercer's 2017
When Women Thrive report,
analyzed in the NAWRB 2018
Women in the Housing Ecosystem
Report, effective gender strategies
are those that take place at the in-
dividual and organizational level.
Here are some key characteristics
of effective practices for increasing
female representation at all profes-
sional employment levels.
RESEARCH WHAT WORKS
Organizations should conduct re-
search both within and outside their
company to figure out which practic-
es are creating change, and which
efforts need to be improved.
This might involve creating bet-
ter leave and flexibility programs for
employees, reconfiguring leadership
roles that complement women's
unique competencies, and training
managers to effectively administer
leave and return-to-work processes.
ENSURE PAY EQUITY
Women thrive when organizations
have a strong pay equity process, as
they're more likely to have greater
female representation when they
also have a team dedicated to
gender equality.
Methods for ensuring pay equity
include adopting processes based
on pay data and statistical analysis,
supplemented with remediation pro-
tocols, and implementing fair pro-
motions and performance manage-
ment with a gender lens.
MEET DIVERSE NEEDS
It's crucial for organizations to assist
a diverse workforce with programs
that meet their unique health and
financial needs, which vary between
men and women. Compared to men,
women tend to have lower-paying
jobs, more gaps in terms of provided
services, and live longer.
Companies should take into ac-
count the various obstacles women
face in achieving economic growth
when implementing programs to
help them succeed at the personal
and professional level.
INCORPORATE D&I IN YOUR WORK
CULTURE
These initiatives are only effec-
tive if they're adopted as part of
a company's practices and ethos.
There can be disagreement within
an organization about the neces-
sity and effectiveness of these ef-
forts, which should be discussed in
an open, encouraging environment.
If a company's top executive and
managers don't make D&I a priority,
then it can't be expected that other
employees will.
D&I initiatives can effect change
when all genders and employment
levels work together to ensure equal
opportunity within their organiza-
tions. Women thrive when men are
also engaged in D&I efforts. Gen-
der diversity needs to be adopted
by all employees, because having a
diverse workforce helps the entire
company succeed. RE
Desirée Patno is the CEO and president of Women
in the Housing and Real Estate Ecosystem (NAWRB)
and Desirée Patno Enterprises, Inc. (DPE), as well as
chairwoman of NAWRB's Diversity & Inclusion Leader-
ship Council (NDILC). With 30 years of experience in
housing, Patno is a champion for women's economic
growth and independence. In 2017, Entrepreneur.
com named her the Highest-
Ranking Woman and 4
th
Overall
Top Real Estate Influencer to
Follow. For more information,
please visit
www.nawrb.com.
Increasing Gender
Diversity Without Quotas
Commentary by Desirée Patno
D
iversity and inclusion (D&I) continues to be a priority in the
corporate world, especially in the housing ecosystem. To
increase opportunities for women, some have advocated
legislative action. One example is California's potential SB 826 bill,
a law that would require the state's largest public companies to
have at least one woman on their board by the end of 2019. While
such policy action may be perceived as long overdue, enforcing
quotas is not an all-encompassing solution to the lack of diversity in
companies' executive positions.